YouTube, the first website to get permission, will broadcast news and videos of the Beijing Olympic Games to 77 countries, directed primarily to Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
These 77 countries including South Korea, India and Nigeria will have no other way of watching the Games as there broadcasters have not bought exclusive rights to broadcast the games.
This will be the largest Internet coverage of the Olympic Games. It will be the first time in the history of the games that it will have complete global coverage. You Tube will have a dedicated channel but won’t however broadcast the footage live; Highlights, news and daily clips will be broadcast three hours daily.
The aim is to reduce the amount of illegal viewing of the games and therefore all videos will the provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), so no private footage on the games will be allowed to be uploaded onto the site, especially now that YouTube has an official deal with the IOC.
The YouTube footage will reach 200 million people in the 77 countries, not a relatively large number because the number of the online video viewers in the areas covered is relatively small, very isolated and varied.
Internet users outside the allocated area will be blocked from seeing the footage with technology called ‘geo-blocking’.
“The IOC’s priority is to ensure that as many people as possible get to experience the magic of the Olympic Games and the inspirational sporting achievements of the Olympic athletes. For the first time in Olympic history we will have complete global online coverage, and the IOC will have its own broadcast Channel and content production facilities,” said Timo Lumme, director of television and marketing services at the IOC.
By: Vanessa De Sousa
